Tell President Obama: Close Guantanamo prison

There are 86 men languishing in the Guantánamo Bay detention facility who have been unanimously cleared for release by government investigators.

There would be 87, but Adnan Latif of Yemen died this September 8. He'd been detained for 10 years without ever being charged with any crime, and despite the fact that his release had been approved by the courts on three separate occasions, in 2004, 2007 and 2009. Because the Obama administration placed a moratorium on repatriating Yemeni citizens in 2009, Latif stayed in prison until his death earlier this month.

No one should spend a decade in an American jail without a trial or even being charged with a crime, only to die alone and far from home. It's time for the Obama administration to fulfill the president's promise to close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility.

Tell President Obama to close Guantánamo and end indefinite detention.

The gulag at Guantánamo is a black mark on our national conscience that started under George W. Bush in the wake of 9-11. But it has only continued, despite promises to the contrary, under President Obama.

Most of the 167 men still imprisoned in Guantánamo today will never be charged, and the majority have already been cleared for transfer to other facilities. Indefinite detention without charges or trial is fundamentally contrary to the democratic values that our system of government rests upon.

Tell President Obama to close Guantánamo and end indefinite detention.

The worst thing we can do in the face of this is remain silent.

The time is now for a groundswell of support behind a renewed effort to shut down the shameful American gulag at Guantánamo. This is why we are joining our friends at the Center for Constitutional Rights to demand that the Obama administration make good on its promise to close the prison and that it resettle or repatriate the men it does not intend to prosecute. It can begin with transferring the remaining 86 men it has already determined can be released.

Tell President Obama that it's time to live up to our ideals and treat the prisoners in Guantánamo according to our most cherished democratic values.

Thank you for supporting constitutional rights.

Letter to

PresidentBarack Obama

Indefinite detention without charge or trial is un-American. The detention facilities at Guantánamo Bay, which continue to be a stain on our national conscience, should be closed and the prisoners given fair trials or released if they've been cleared of all charges.